GET REEL: Why are so many Brits in American movies?

Why do so many British actors and actresses play Americans in the movies?

The snooty answer is they’re better than American actors and actresses.

The politically correct answer is they’re better trained than American actors and actresses. That’s because many Brits come from theatrical backgrounds. If you’re a casting director looking for talent, this attribute just might top the modeling, TV and sports star backgrounds of many American thespians.

The bottom line answer is they can cost less than American actors and actresses, whose movie star credentials can launch their paydays into galaxies far, far away.

In some instances, it’s simply a matter of who’s available at the right time and whom the filmmakers fancy. Good fortune can play a role, too.

For example, nearly every actress with a pulse in the 1930s tried out for the coveted role of Scarlett O’Hara in “Gone with the Wind” (1939). It went to British actress Vivien Leigh, whose American theatrical agent just happened to be Myron Selznick, whose brother just happened to be David O. Selznick, who just happened to be the producer of “Gone with the Wind.” David initially dismissed Leigh as being “too British,” but he eventually changed his mind with an assist from Myron, according to sources, which we assume are reliable. Leigh went on to win the best actress Oscar.

She wasn’t the only Brit in this very American film set in the South during the Civil War. Melanie Hamilton was played by Olivia de Havilland, now an American citizen but she was born to British parents and was recently named a Dame Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire.

Ashley Wilkes, meanwhile, was played by the British-born actor Leslie Howard. The fourth major role in the film, Rhett Butler, belonged to Clark Gable, who wasn’t a Brit, but he wasn’t a Southerner, either. He hailed from Cadiz, Ohio.

In “12 Years a Slave” (2013), another film set in the South during the Civil War, British-born Benedict Cumberbatch played an American slave owner.

Yet another quintessential American film with Southern roots, “Selma,” (2014), featured a veritable plethora of actors and actresses with British roots. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was played by British-born David Oyelowo. Coretta Scott King was played by British-born Carmen Ejogo. U.S. President Lyndon Baines Johnson was played by British-born Tom Wilkinson and Alabama Gov. George Wallace was played by British-born Tim Roth.

Leigh would win another Oscar, playing another Southern belle. This time she took home the statuette for her performance as Blanche DuBois in “A Streetcar Named Desire” (1951).

You now may ask, where have all the Yankees gone, long time passing?

From these examples, one might conclude that Brits have an affinity for southern accents, but it’s clear they can do any American accent. American actors and actresses who have excelled with British accents, on the other hand, are few and far between. The short list includes Gwyneth Paltrow, Renee Zellweger, Angelina Jolie, Robert Downey Jr., Johnny Depp, Natalie Portman, Scarlett Johansson, Frances McDormand, Amy Adams, Anne Hathaway and, of course, the Queen of All Accents, Meryl Streep. We won’t discuss the disastrous attempts. Just listen to Dick Van Dyke in “Mary Poppins” as exhibits A through Zed.

Even American superheroes get the Union Jack treatment. One of the more recent actors to portray Superman was British-born Henry Cavill in “Man of Steel” (2013), while the last two actors to play “Spider-Man” have been Brits: Andrew Garfield and Tom Holland. And arguably the most memorable Batman performance was submitted by British-born Christian Bale. He would later win an Oscar playing a Lowell-born pugilist in “The Fighter” (2010).

Returning to Batman, his enemy in “The Dark Knight Rises” (2015), the menacing and mildly incomprehensible Bane, was played by British-born Tom Hardy. Hardy discarded his accent to play another baddie in “The Revenant” (2015) while British-born Rosamund Pike showed her wicked ways in “Gone Girl” (2014).

We should note that the most memorable of Batman’s villains, The Joker, in arguably the best Batman movie, “The Dark Knight” (2008), was played by Australian-born Heath Ledger. We may devote another article on actors and actresses from the Land Down Under who have played Americans.

Anyway, returning to the jolly old England, British-born Daniel Day Lewis scored an Oscar daily double, taking home the statuette for playing an American prospector in “There Will Be Blood” (2007) and an American president in “Lincoln” (2012).

The aforementioned Wilkinson employed an American accent again in “Michael Clayton” (2007) as did co-star British born co-star Tilda Swinton, who won an Oscar for her performance in the film.

Not even American musicians can escape the British blitz. In the biopic, “I Saw the Light” 2015), British-born Tom Hiddleston played country music star Hank Williams. And Welsh actress Catherine Zeta-Jones won an Oscar playing an American murderess in “Chicago” (2002). We should note that her fellow countryman, Anthony Hopkins, would also win an Oscar for playing a murderer in “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991), but his character, Hannibal Lecter, was born in Lithuania. That said, Hopkins owns the distinction of being the only actor to receive Oscar nominations for playing two U.S. presidents - John Quincy Adams in "Amistad" (1997) and Richard Nixon in "Nixon" (1995). FYI, that was a Final Jeopardy question last month.

Brits also made their mark in American blockbusters. In “Titanic” (1997), British-born Kate Winslet played the American Rose DeWitt Burkater. And in the “Twilight” films, hunky Edward Cullen was played by British-born Robert Pattinson.

British-born Emma Watson, who made a name for herself playing a Brit in the “Harry Potter” films, tried on an American accent for her role in “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” (2012).

More recently, British-born John Boyega played Finn in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” (2015) and Melvin Dismukes in "Detroit," which was release last month. Speaking of "Detroit," another Brit, Will Poulter, plays Police Officer Philip Krauss in the film. Poulter also played an American in "We're the Millers" (2013).

And last year, British-born Naomie Harris was nominated for an Oscar for playing a Miami drug addict in “Moonlight.”

This year, you can hear a Brit playing an American with Lily James of “Downton Abbey” fame performing the honors in “Baby Driver” while fellow Brit Cara Delevingne works out her American accent in "Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets." Even apes speaking with American accents get played by Brits with Andy Serkis playing the lead simian “War for the Planet of the Apes.”

But wait, there’s more. Even Brits playing Brits get to try out their American accents. British-born Eddie Redmayne won an Oscar playing British-born Stephen Hawking in “The Theory of Everything” (2014). Hawking, who lost his speech to ALS, now speaks using a speech synthesizer equipped with an American voice. The brilliant Idris Elba has played his fair share of Americans during his career as well. He gets to exercise his American accent in the recently released "Dark Tower."

We should point out that this column is not meant to be a definitive list of all the Brits who have employed American accents in movies over the years.

Finally, a tip of the chapeau to Ashland’s Jim Duffy, who provided in an email yet another example of a Brit utilizing an American accent.

“You should consider including a longtime friend of mine who celebrated her 91st birthday last December and is still going strong,” wrote Duffy. “I mean the wonderful Peggy Cummins. She starred in 'The Late George Apley' in 1946, playing Eleanor Apley (a proper Boston girl) opposite Ronald Colman. She played an American in 'Green Grass of Wyoming' in 1948, and finally what has become a cult classic 'Gun Crazy' (1949), playing the murderous Annie Laurie Starr."

I don’t know about you, dear reader, but I’m suddenly developing a craving for tea and crumpets. Cheerio!